Freedman confirmed as Bolton boss

Bolton Wanderers have confirmed the appointment of Dougie Freedman as their manager - two full days after Crystal Palace, the club Freedman left, had indicated that the deal was done.

On Tuesday, Palace said Freedman, who had guided them to the upper reaches of the Championship with an impressive run of form, had left to join the Lancashire club, who are looking to get back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

But there was confusion when, after Bolton had drawn at Wolves on Tuesday evening, caretaker boss Jimmy Phillips indicated that talks with Freedman had some way to go and said he would be caretaker boss for the trip to Middlesbrough this weekend.

On Thursday, however, Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside told his club's official website that the appointment had been confirmed and said: "Dougie is young and ambitious. When we met, his enthusiasm and knowledge of the game were evident.

"He has a real drive and passion, and knows what we want to achieve and how we want to go about it. I am looking forward to working with Dougie to secure that."

Freedman said he was delighted to be moving to the Reebok, adding: "The club is geared up to getting back into the Premier League.

"There is an impressive setup and structure in place, and a first team squad of undoubted quality. I am excited about the challenge ahead of us."

It has been suggested that the delay in confirming his appointment could have been caused by compensation negotiations or attempts by Bolton to bring Palace assistant Lennie Lawrence and coach Curtis Fleming, currently caretaker bosses at Selhurst Park, to Lancashire as well.

Freedman had been in charge at Palace since January 2011, taking the reins from George Burley, to whom he had been assistant.

After steering Palace to safety and 17th place last season, he led them to third this time around and was given the Manager of the Month award for September.